O'Neill makes case for defence

A VillaMartin O'Neill will put the emphasis on defending in training after Aston Villa came unstuck at Stoke.

A new-look defence allowed Mamady Sidibe to score a dramatic last-gasp winner after the visitors had twice fought back.

O'Neill was disappointed Villa were unable to build on their opening-day drubbing of Manchester City but refused to point the finger of blame at his new boys.

"I am still very positive because the fact is we have been beaten in the last minute of the game," O'Neill said.

"Over the whole period I thought we should have got at least something from the game after we scored two very good goals.

"It is too early to start cutting up players as it were, we have played two games in the Premier League and we've scored six goals.

"So scoring doesn't seem to be our problem at the moment. We scored a lot of goals last season and conceded quite a number.

"If we could cut down the number we conceded we'd have a better chance of getting more points so that's something we'll work on."


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